What’s on for the October Bank Holiday weekend? Your guide of fun and spooky Halloween events

Halloween events round-up from around the country

Stoke your fears

The Bram Stoker Festival offers devilishly fun experiences for all ages, including free events for families, fascinating tours, reimagined movies with live scores, comedy, freaky cabarets, live podcast recordings and themed events at national cultural institutions. It runs at locations around Dublin until Monday evening. bramstokerfestival.com.

Hook a tour

The 800-year-old Hook Lighthouse in Wexford is offering spooky lantern-led tours on Sunday and Monday, and a free Féile Samhain celebration from noon to 4pm each day.

Book a pumpkin-painting workshop with the Hook’s resident artist Rose, and enter the Halloween fancy-dress competition. There will be a scary Treasure Quest, and Pirate Pat will undoubtedly be up to spooky shenanigans. hookheritage.ie

Creepy Céilí

Send your kids to join the circus at the Púca Festival in Meath, which runs each day at noon from now until Tuesday.

It has a 40-minute interactive workshop in Athboy that is suitable for children aged four upwards that will teach them the basics of juggling and hula hoop. There’s also a creepy céilí tomorrow for all ages at 1.30pm at Trim Castle Hotel. pucafestival.com

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Terrifying trail

Check out the ‘Spooky Halloween Trail’ at Mount Congreve Gardens in Waterford from 9am to 3pm from now until Tuesday. It’s recommended for children aged four to 10, who can discover the scary skeletons and ghastly ghouls who have invaded the gardens. They can also choose a pumpkin to take home. mountcongreve.com

Halloween Hooley

A Halloween Hooley will take place at Killruddery in Wicklow on Sunday and Monday, with music from The Hot Dots and face-painting. You can enter the Scarecrow Competition, and visit the Walled Garden pumpkin patch, pick your pumpkin, and have it carved by members of Bray Lions Club, who will be taking charity donations to aid the work they do in the community. killruddery.com

After Dark, if you dare

Vampires, ghosts and poor creatures from Waterford’s past will make an appearance as the guides from Waterford Treasures offer ‘After Dark’ tours at the Irish Wake Museum.

You’ll experience storytelling through six rooms chronologically ordered from the 15th to the 20th centuries, with different themes associated with death being explored. Suitable for those aged 14 upwards, the tours take place from Monday to Friday at 5pm, 6pm and 7pm. waterfordtreasures.com

Deal with the dragon

On Halloween night from 7pm, Cork city comes alive with creatures from the underworld for the Dragon of Shandon Samhain Parade.

This family-friendly free event has live music. Large-scale floats created by artists and their communities will be accompanied on the streets by a host of characters, performers and puppets. You can walk with the giant dragon as she travels between worlds in a celebration of the living and the dead. dragonofshandon.com

Scary sessions

Two free storytelling sessions take place on Monday at 11.30am and 2.30pm at Portumna Castle in Galway, aimed for those among us who are not easily scared.

The family-friendly ‘Spooky Stories and Local Lore’ event combines local stories of banshees, leprechauns, fairies and ghosts, and incorporates local heritage sites including castles, ringforts and churches. Pre-booking is essential on 046 942 2900.

Truly spooktacular

‘Cnámha La Loba’ is the theme of this year’s Macnas Parade, which takes place in Galway city centre on Sunday as darkness descends at 5.30pm.

The parade is inspired by the legend of La Loba, a wild wolf-woman. She collects and preserves the bones of animals, humans and gods that are in danger of being lost to the world and sings them back to life by moonlight. macnas.com

Dabble in the dead

Donegal Castle is hosting ‘Fright of the Earls’ on Monday and Tuesday, with a range of events to suit all ages. It includes a creature craft and colouring table, fancy-dress competition and scarecrow competition.

‘Tales from the Tower’ will see guides hosting a series of ghost stories from 7.30 to 8pm, with free admission, but pre-booking is required via Eventbrite.

Dark nights

Skypark of Carlingford, Co Louth, is hosting its ‘Skypark After Dark’ event until Wednesday, November 8. Each evening at 5pm, you can explore a maze, play monster croquet, roast marshmallows, zipline, and rave at a monster disco, as well as playing mini golf, aeroball, archery and axe throwing. skypark.ie

Ghostly goings-on

A free Halloween event takes place at the 17th-century Parke’s Castle in Leitrim on Monday from 1pm-4pm. There’ll be an afternoon of ghost stories, art, face painting and family fun, and the castle's ghost, Lady Anne, may pay an eerie visit. Book your place by emailing parkescastle@opw.ie

Macabre masks

Many ghoulish events will take place at Spleodar Halloween Arts Festival in Tipperary, which runs until Tuesday night. These include movies, face-painting, a free treasure hunt and dance, and lantern and mask-making workshops. The festival will end with a fancy dress Halloween parade and fireworks display. spleodar.ie

Fright night

‘Fright Night’ on Monday and Tuesday and ‘Haunted Forest and Scaredy Cats’ at Reenagross Park on Monday are two of the events taking place during Kenmare’s Halloween Howl festival.

There are also spooky movies, Creative Kids’ workshops, night-time orienteering and Young Engineers’ Lego camps. The full programme can be viewed on Facebook.

Perturbing party

Halloween movie time and a fancy-dress costume party are two of the events at Lough SpooKey Halloween Fest, which takes place at Lough Key Forest and Adventure Park in Roscommon from Sunday to Friday.

The programme includes ‘Mud Bugs Welly Adventures’, balloon-modelling, movies and children’s games. loughkey.ie

Witchy Woodlands

The ‘Ghostly Woodland Walk’ is a daytime Halloween experience at Lafcadio Hearn Japanese Gardens in Tramore, Co Waterford.

Perfect for families with young children, you’ll wander through the woodlands and discover ghouls, ghosts, skeletons and witches. Also included is storytelling for adults and children’s ghost storytelling at allocated times at the weekend. It runs until Wednesday. lafcadiohearngardens.com

Creepy traditions

Castlecomer Discovery Park in Kilkenny is hosting its ‘Witching Hour’ adventures this week to get the whole family involved in the traditions behind Halloween.

Events include ‘Halloween Fun’ workshops, ‘Irish Halloween Traditions’ workshops, and treasure hunting through the woods. discoverypark.ie

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Freaky Fairytales

Families will have the opportunity to explore the grounds of Hillsborough Castle in Co Down after dark, where the spirits of characters from the Brothers Grimm fairytales will be brought to life throughout the gardens by local children’s theatre company Cahoots.

You’ll encounter creepy characters throughout the gardens, ranging from wicked witches to cheeky elves. There will also be performances along the trail. hrp.org.uk/hillsborough-castle